Israel ends West Bank military operation

Israeli forces withdrew from the West Bank city of Nablus this morning, after a large-scale army operation against Palestinian militants, Palestinian officials said.

The army did not confirm that the operation, which left the city’s centre under curfew while troops combed houses and alleys for wanted militants, had ended.

At dawn today no Israeli jeeps were visible in the city.

Adli Yaish, the mayor of Nablus, said the Israeli forces were gone and called on residents to return to normal life.

“We have to continue living,” Yaish said, urging students and teachers to attend school today.

Municipal workers had already begun cleaning the streets in the raid’s aftermath, Yaish said.

One Palestinian, a 42-year-old man, was killed in the operation.

Palestinians said he was unarmed.

The army said he was killed when troops fired at “suspicious figures” on a roof.

The army said the raid was necessary because most of the suicide bombers trying to enter Israel from the West Bank come from Nablus.

Forces arrested five wanted militants and uncovered weapons workshops as well as a studio where suicide bombers recorded their farewell statements, the army said.